Noel Wins $15K Title; Sandgren and Kenin Reach Australian Open Quarterfinals; Five US Juniors Advance at AO; ITA Kick-off Weekend Final Results

Alexa Noel, playing in her first event since the beginning of November, won her first ITF World Tennis Tour title today at the $15,000 tournament in Cancun Mexico. The 17-year-old 2019 Wimbledon girls finalist was unseeded this week, but took out top seed and 2018 NCAA champion Arienne Hartono(Ole Miss) of the Netherlands in the quarterfinals and beat No. 5 seed Nika Kukharchuk(Ole Miss) of Russia 6-3, 6-2 in today's final. Noel didn't lose a set all week.

For the second straight week, no Americans made the quarterfinals at a $25,000 USTA Pro Circuit event in Florida. This week's tournament in Vero Beach was disrupted by rain, with two matches a day for several players on both Friday and Saturday. No. 6 seed Daniela Seguel of Chile won the title today, defeating No. 7 seed Tereza Mrdeza of Croatia 7-5, 6-4.  Two unseeded teams met in the doubles final, with Connie Hsu(Penn) of Taiwan and Panna Uvardy of Hungary taking the title with a 7-5, 4-6, 10-7 win over the Spanish team of Irene Burillo and Andrea Lazaro(Florida International).

Former University of Tennessee star Tennys Sandgren has reached a second Australian Open quarterfinal, with his first coming two years ago. Sandgren, currently 100 in the ATP rankings, defeated No. 12 seed Fabio Fognini of Italy 7-6(5), 7-5, 6-7(2), 6-4 to set up his first meeting with Roger Federer of Tuesday. For more on Sandgren's fourth round victory, see this article from the ATP.  Sofia Kenin is the other American still competing for a singles title in Melbourne, after the No. 14 seed came back to defeat Coco Gauff 6-7(5) 6-3, 6-0. Kenin's quarterfinal opponent Tuesday will be unseeded Ons Jabeur of Tunisia.
Sunday’s fourth round singles matches featuring Americans:

Ashleigh Barty[1](AUS) d. Alison Riske[18] 6-3, 1-6, 6-4
Sofia Kenin[14] d. Coco Gauff 6-7(5), 6-3, 6-0
Tennys Sandgren d. Fabio Fognini[12](ITA) 7-6(5), 7-5, 6-7(2), 6-4

After going winless on Saturday's first day of junior competition in Australia, US competitors went 5-1 on Sunday. Kalamazoo 16s champion Alex Bernard, who went through qualifying, had a particularly impressive victory, beating No. 13 seed Nicholas David Ionel of Romania 6-1, 5-7, 6-3. Ionel won four straight ITF $15,000 tournaments last fall. In addition to Ionel, three other seeds boys went out in the first round: No. 15 Bu Yunchaokete of China, No. 11 Eliakim Coulibaly of Ivory Coast and No. 4 Jeffrey Von Der Schulenberg of Switzerland.  Four seeded girls also lost in the first round: No. 14 Selena Janicijevic of France, No. 7 Oksana Selekhmeteva of Russia, No. 5 Linda Fruhvirtova of the Czech Republic and and No. 3 Kamilla Bartone of Latvia.

The ITF website spoke with No. 2 seed Martin Damm after his win on Sunday for this article. None of the five American juniors remaining are on Monday's schedule for singles.

Sunday’s first round junior singles matches featuring Americans: 5-1

Alex Bernard[Q] d. Nicholas David Ionel[13](ROU) 6-1, 5-7, 6-3
Aidan Mayo d. Viacheslav Bielinskyi[Q](UKR) 3-6, 7-6(3), 6-1
Robin Montgomery[2] d. Sofia Costoulas(BEL) 6-1, 6-0
Martin Damm[2] d. Lorenzo Claverie(VEN) 6-4, 6-1
Ellie Coleman d. Charlotte Kempenaers-Pocz[WC](AUS) 6-4, 7-5
Ya Yi Yang(TPE) d. India Houghton[Q] 1-6, 6-3, 6-3

The ITA Division I Kick-off Weekend is winding down, with some blowouts, some close matches and a few surprises. Below are the results as of 6 p.m.; I will update the late Stanford - Cal and UCLA - Central Florida men's matches and the Princeton - USC women's match later tonight. The winners move on to the ITA National Team Indoor Championships, which for the women is February 7-10 in Chicago, and for the men is February 14-17 in Madison.

All results are below. I've used bold type for the No. 1 seeds, who were hosting, who lost this weekend.

Women:(Friday/Saturday)

North Carolina[1] d. Auburn[4] 4-0

Old Dominion[2] d. Columbia[3] 4-1

FINAL: North Carolina[1] d. Old Dominion[2] 4-1

UCLA[1] d. Minnesota 4-0

Loyola Marymount[3] d. Gonzaga[2] 4-0

FINAL: UCLA[1] d. Loyola Marymount[3] 4-0

Vanderbilt[1] d. Penn[4] 4-0

Arizona State[3] d. Northwestern[2] 4-2

FINAL: Arizona State[3] d. Vanderbilt[1] 4-3

Texas[1] d. Iowa[4] 4-0

LSU[2] d. Texas Tech[3] 4-1

FINAL: Texas[1] d. LSU[2] 4-0

Tennessee[4] d. Kansas[1] 4-2

Virginia[3] d. Cal[2] 4-1

FINAL: Virginia[3] d. Tennessee[4] 4-3

Saturday/Sunday:

South Carolina[1] d. Purdue[4] 4-0

Georgia Tech[2] d. Wisconsin[3] 4-0

FINAL: Georgia Tech[2] d. South Carolina[1] 4-1

Duke[1] d. Kansas State[4] 4-0

Tulsa[3] d. Mississippi State[2] 4-3

FINAL: Duke[1] d. Tulsa[2] 4-0

Stanford[1] d. South Florida[4] 4-0

Washington State[2] d. Denver[3] 4-0

FINAL: Stanford[1] d. Washington State[2] 4-0

Oklahoma State[1] d. San Diego[4] 4-0

Ohio State[3] d. Wake Forest[2] 4-2

FINAL: Ohio State[3] d. Oklahoma State[1] 4-3

Florida State[1] d. UC-Santa Barbara[4] 4-1

Texas A&M[2] d. Miami[3] 4-2

FINAL: Florida State[1] d. Texas A&M[2] 4-0

Georgia[1] d. Michigan State[4] 7-0

Notre Dame[2] d. Furman[3] 4-2

FINAL: Georgia[1] d. Notre Dame[2] 5-2

Michigan[1] d. Ole Miss[4] 4-2

Central Florida[2] d. Utah[3] 4-3

FINAL: Michigan[1] d. Central Florida[2] 4-2

NC State[1] d. Rice[4] 4-2

Florida[2] d. Oklahoma[3] 4-3

FINAL: NC State[1] d. Florida[2] 4-0

Pepperdine[1] d. UNLV[4] 4-0

Arkansas[2] d. Arizona[3] 4-2

FINAL: Pepperdine[1] d. Arkansas[2] 4-1

USC[2] d. Kentucky[3] 4-3

Princeton[4] d. Washington[1] 4-3

FINAL: Princeton[4] d. USC[2] 4-3

Men:(Friday/Saturday)

Ole Miss[4] d. Illinois[1] 4-3

Michigan[2] d. Texas Tech[3] 4-3

FINAL: Michigan[2] d. Ole Miss[4] 4-3

Wake Forest[1] d. E Tenn State[4] 4-2

Kentucky[3] d. Penn State[2] 4-1

FINAL: Wake Forest[1] d. Kentucky[3] 4-2

Saturday/Sunday:

South Carolina[3] d. Oklahoma[2] 4-0

Georgia[4] d. Mississippi St[1] 4-1

FINAL: South Carolina[3] d. Georgia[4] 4-3

Tennessee[1] d. Arizona State[4] 4-0

Columbia[2] d. Oklahoma State[3] 4-0

FINAL: Columbia[2] d. Tennessee[1] 4-2

USC[1] d. UNC-Wilmington[4] 4-0

Santa Clara[3] d. UC-Santa Barbara[2] 4-3

FINAL: USC[1] d. Santa Clara[3] 4-0

Texas[1] d. Indiana[4] 4-0

Florida State[2] d. Vanderbilt[3] 4-2

FINAL: Texas[1]d. Florida State[2] 4-0

Baylor[1] d. Gonzaga[4] 4-0

Louisville[2] d. New Mexico[3] 4-1

FINAL: Baylor[1] d. Louisville[2] 4-1

TCU[1] d. Florida Atlantic[4] 4-0

Arizona[3] d. Notre Dame[2] 4-2

FINAL: TCU[1] d. Arizona[3] 4-0

Ohio State[1] d. Purdue[4] 4-0

Tulsa[3] d. Utah[2] 4-2

FINAL: Ohio State[1] d. Tulsa[3] 4-0

Virginia[1] d. Memphis[4] 4-0

NC State[2] d. Utah State[3]4-0

FINAL: NC State[2] d. Virginia[1] 4-1

North Carolina[1] d. Elon[4] 4-0

Georgia State[2] d. Old Dominion 4-2

FINAL: North Carolina[1] d. Georgia State[2] 4-0

Florida[1] d. Temple[4] 4-0

South Florida[2] d. Fresno State[3] 4-2

FINAL: Florida[1] d. South Florida[2] 4-0

Texas A&M[1] d. South Alabama[4] 4-0

Georgia Tech[2] d. Oregon[3] 4-3

FINAL: Texas A&M[1] d. Georgia Tech[2] 4-0

UCLA[1] d. San Diego State[4] 4-1

Central Florida[3] d. San Diego[2] 4-3

FINAL: UCLA[1] d. Central Florida[3] 4-3

Stanford[1] d. Tulane[4] 4-1

Cal[2] d. Miami[3] 4-0

FINAL: Stanford[1] d. Cal[2] 4-0